Protective covers for selected front portions of a motor vehicle body, such as the front fenders, engine hood, front bumper area including any grill work and/or retractable headlamp housings are well known in the art, and are commonly referred to as "bras". The purpose of these bras is to protect the paint of the front portions of a motor vehicle from damage due to oncoming stones, flying particles, insects and similar damaging materials when driving, particularly at higher speeds. Such bras are disclosed in, for example, Waldon U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,218 issued Aug. 26, 1980, Guccione et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,546 issued Mar. 15, 1983, and Swanson U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,229 issued Mar. 5, 1991.
The rear bumpers of today's motor vehicles are typically formed from molded plastic and are painted the same color as the remainder of the body. Such a rear bumper is not at risk of damage from oncoming stones, flying particles and the like when the vehicle is driven. However, the rear bumper is at risk of minor damage such as scratches, chips and abrasions when the vehicle is parked as a result of a low speed impact by another motor vehicle, a shopping cart or any other moving object.
There is, therefore, a need for a new protective cover for the rear bumper of motor vehicles.
In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a protective cover for the rear bumper of a motor vehicle that protects the rear bumper from minor damages, such as scratches, chips and abrasions, resulting from a low speed impact by a moving object that does not violate the structural integrity of the rear bumper.